A major change in how the state delivers health care to its prisoners is well underway, and with it comes the question of what will happen to the current staff of doctors, nurses, lab technicians and other professionals.

Some of Arizona’s loudest and most influential voices in education will be silenced in future elections due to a law aimed squarely at keeping the Arizona School Boards Association off the campaign trail.

In response to ASBA’s financial largesse during the 2010 cycle on a couple of ballot measures, the Legislature passed HB2002, which prohibits school districts from spending money for membership in any association that attempts to influence the outcome of an election.

Strict enforcement laws like SB1070 sprang from widespread sentiment that the federal government refuses to untangle the illegal immigration mess, leaving states to bear the brunt of its fiscal and societal costs and compelling them to adopt a patchwork of laws to confront the problem.

Like taxes, budget and immigration, the special session that failed to extend unemployment aid to those who have been out of work the longest became another arena in the war to define the soul of the Republican Party.

The program’s most vocal critics and most ardent supporters are, not surprisingly, members of the GOP.